Consumers have almost 50 new healthcare plans to choose from following the launch of new insurance company Vivas yesterday and the introduction of new products from State-owned health insurer VHI.

The shake-up of the market should result in keener competition and lower prices for consumers, according to a leading healthcare consultant.

Mr Aongus Loughlin of Mercer Human Resource Consulting said the Vivas "we" plans, which target families with children, were more cost-effective for families with more than two children and where older students are covered under a family policy.

Both the new insurer and VHI are tailoring their products for different types of consumers, depending on their stage in life and budget.

Plans offering only basic cover are designed for young single individuals, while plans with more comprehensive cover are aimed at older people who are more worried about their potential healthcare expenses.

Plans aimed at parents and parents-to-be include higher maternity benefits and cover out-patient expenses like speech therapy and child counselling.

Mr Oliver Tattan, chief executive of Vivas, said consumers could choose to only pay for the services they were likely to use.

"Consumers are currently being offered generic 'one size fits all' products which often have no relevance to their lives and which result in them paying for services they will never use."

BUPA, VHI's only competitor before yesterday, welcomed the entry of a third insurer to the market, but said the approach taken by Vivas and VHI was different to its own "essential healthcare" philosophy.

All BUPA plans include full cover for the Mater Private and Blackrock Clinic, the company's managing director, Mr Martin O'Rourke, said.

The VHI LifeStages plans are cheaper than its Plans A-E but do not include any cover for the Mater Private and Blackrock Clinic, where certain cardiac procedures are performed. Under the Vivas plans, the percentage of cover varies according to the plan selected and can be as low as 35 per cent.

"They are letting you take the risk," said Mr O'Rourke. "You decide that you are going to buy a certain level of cover, but our customers tell us that they want full cover. They want that certainty.

"We intend to keep our products very simple. We're not going to ask consumers to make decisions they haven't previously."

BUPA claims to offer the best value-for-money, however Vivas said consumers could save between 8 per cent and 49 per cent by picking its plans, with an average saving of 20 per cent available.

Mr Declan Moran, director of product and business development at VHI, said consumers often had a "you get what you pay for" attitude to health insurance.

As each plan has a different range of benefits and level of cover, it is difficult to determine which company is offering the best deal.

However, VHI's Plan B Option, which costs €527 for an adult, is broadly similar to BUPA's Essential Plus, which costs only €450.

Like these plans, the Vivas "I" plan, at level 2, offers full cover for a semi-private room in a private hospital or a private room in a public hospital. It costs €421.

Mr Tattan also claimed the Vivas "we" plan offered consumers the most comprehensive maternity benefits. It includes three days post-natal domestic support for new parents. Mr Loughlin said this was the only additional maternity benefit.

Vivas said it would not be immune to inflation in the medical sector, which has led to a dramatic rise in the cost of health insurance over the past decade.